During ulcer episodes, patients reported worse oral health impacts and an inferior quality of life in comparison with ulcer-free times (P< 0.0001). Higher OHIP scores were significantly associated with higher HAD depression (P= 0.036) and anxiety (P= 0.012) scores. NEO-FFI scores had no significant relations with OHIP and OHQoL-UK scores (P> 0.05). During ulcer-free periods, no relationships were detected between OHIP, OHQoL-UK, HAD and NEO-FFI scores (P> 0.05), except between OHQoL-UK and conscientiousness scores (P= 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

RAS increased the negative oral health impacts on patients and consequently lowered their quality of life. Stressful situations and conditions (including anxiety and depression), rather than inherent personality profiles and stable psychological traits, were related to oral health impacts and quality of life in patients with RAS.